Sermonising

Categories: religion

Tags: sermon

Date: 24 May 2010 17:48:31

This weekend FW is off to visit friends in that posh Spa town in Gloucestershire. For the day and a bit she is away I get to write a sermon and then give it. At lease it is a bank holiday so I get to recover on Sunday afternoon and Monday.

I am still being an idiot as I am writing a new sermon for every service, even when I could get away with recycling one given elsewhere. I think that I actually enjoy the process and want to keep things fresh, if only for me. I also think that it is the Spirit that provides what is said - it must be because most of the time my initial ideas never get into the sermon.

However I have realised that trying to cram a sermon into a working week can be a difficult thing to do. I take time to think about what I would like to say and find myself thinking about things during quiet times in work and at home.

I'm also a believer that a sermon is as much about trying to interpret the message into our modern life. That doesn't mean watering down the message, or changing the meaning, but finding out how those events, or lessons, can impact today. I also think that just lecturing the congregation, as one of our lay-preachers does, means that many turn off.

If we can't apply the message of our faith into our lives then how is it relevant to us and, more importantly, those who do not believe?